Clear Lake (Waseca County)
Waseca County, Minnesota - DNR stocking history, depth and survey data
Minnesota · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) · DOW 81001401
DNR records show 13 stocking entries at Clear Lake (Waseca County) since 2016, most recently walleye fingerlings in 2025 (16,862 fish).
- Clear Lake (Waseca County) has 13 DNR stocking records across 8 years (2016-2025): walleye (10), northern pike (3).
- The most-stocked species by count is northern pike: 366,984 fish on record.
- Maximum depth 34 ft; surface area 649 acres, 448 littoral acres, 4.4 miles of shoreline, per the DNR lake survey.
- Average water clarity (Secchi depth) 2.9 ft.
- Fish species DNR lists here: black bullhead, black crappie, bluegill, common carp, green sunfish, hybrid sunfish, largemouth bass, northern pike, pumpkinseed, walleye, yellow bullhead, yellow perch.
- 2 public accesses on the DNR list.
- Most recent DNR fish survey: (standard survey).
- Waseca County, nearest town Waseca; DNR lake number (DOW) 81001401.
Depth map
Bathymetric contours from the Minnesota DNR lake survey mapped 7/2/1974 (orig map); depths in feet. Simplified for the web; not for navigation.
Stocking history
| Year | Species | Size | Number | Pounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Walleye | fingerlings | 16,862 | 838.8 |
| 2024 | Northern Pike | fry | 90,160 | 2.9 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fingerlings | 6,440 | 140.0 |
| 2023 | Walleye | fingerlings | 4,952 | 660.0 |
| 2022 | Northern Pike | fry | 122,905 | 4.1 |
| 2021 | Walleye | fingerlings | 19,685 | 602.0 |
| 2019 | Walleye | fingerlings | 15,212 | 1,028.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fingerlings | 5,926 | 398.0 |
| 2018 | Walleye | fingerlings | 6,606 | 579.4 |
| 2016 | Northern Pike | fry | 153,919 | 2.4 |
| 2016 | Walleye | yearlings | 3,643 | 809.5 |
| 2016 | Walleye | fingerlings | 497 | 142.0 |
| 2016 | Walleye | adults | 196 | 109.0 |
Field note · Minnesota stocks by year, not by truck day: walleye fry go in within weeks of ice-out, fingerlings and yearlings mostly in fall, and stream trout in spring and fall. A row here means the fish went in during that year; DNR adds the year's rows after the fact, so the current year can look empty until winter.
Public accesses
| Type | Owner | Where |
|---|---|---|
| concrete ramp | city | - Access-North side city owned T.107 R.22 S.8 Lot 3 SE shore off County Road. |
| concrete ramp | city | - Southeast shore |
DNR fish survey, 2024
| Species | Gear | Catch per net | Total catch | Avg lb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bluegill | Standard trap nets | 58.08 | 697 | 0.11 |
| Black crappie | Standard trap nets | 19.58 | 235 | 0.29 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard trap nets | 3.33 | 40 | 1.46 |
| Pumpkinseed | Standard trap nets | 2.83 | 34 | 0.23 |
| Walleye | Standard trap nets | 1.33 | 16 | 2.49 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard trap nets | 0.83 | 10 | 2.67 |
| Northern pike | Standard trap nets | 0.67 | 8 | 5.44 |
| Common carp | Standard trap nets | 0.50 | 6 | 5.69 |
| Bluegill | Standard gill nets | 56.50 | 452 | 0.19 |
| Yellow bullhead | Standard gill nets | 49.38 | 395 | 1.27 |
| Black crappie | Standard gill nets | 35.62 | 285 | 0.29 |
| Black bullhead | Standard gill nets | 8.75 | 70 | 0.91 |
| Walleye | Standard gill nets | 4.12 | 33 | 2.56 |
| Northern pike | Standard gill nets | 1.00 | 8 | 3.89 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 4 | 2.27 |
| Yellow perch | Standard gill nets | 0.50 | 4 | 0.09 |
| Largemouth bass | Standard electrofishing | 22.72 | 21 | 0.94 |
Catch per net (CPUE) is the DNR survey's count per gill net or trap net set; higher means more of that species were sampled, not a fishing forecast. Top species per gear shown; where we have no verified common name for a DNR code, the code itself is shown.
Clear Lake is a 652-acre lake located within the town of Waseca in Waseca County. Two DNR-maintained public accesses are available. One is located off Clear Lake Drive on the north side and the other just off MN Highway 14 on the southeast side of the lake. The maximum depth is 34 feet with approximately 69% of the lake less than 15 feet deep. The lake has generally poor water clarity and frequent algae blooms caused by elevated nutrient levels. Clear Lake is designated as an infested water body due to the establishment of Eurasian Watermilfoil. The lake is primarily managed for Black Crappie, Bluegill, and Largemouth Bass and secondarily for Northern Pike and Walleye. The management plan calls for stocking 896 pounds of Walleye fingerlings in even years and 112,000 Northern Pike fry in odd years. A catch and release regulation on Largemouth Bass has been in place since 1994. Recently, Clear Lake has been designated as a Tier-1 Lake and will be surveyed as part of a regularly scheduled monitoring program at a frequency of every 3 years. The 2024 survey was completed the week of 5 August 2024 using eight gill nets, 12 trap nets, and 55 minutes of boat electrofishing. Water quality parameters were also measured. Bluegill were the most sampled fish in 2024. A total of 452 were caught in gill nets for a catch rate of 56.5/net. Bluegill sampled in gill nets ranged from 5.4 to 8.4 inches with an average of 6.9 inches. A total of 697 Bluegill were sampled with trap nets for a catch rate of 58.1/net. Bluegill catch rates in trap nets have rebounded in recent years after averaging 19.8/net from 2015 to 2021. Before 2010 Bluegill catch rates averaged 64.0/net. Bluegill sampled in trap nets ranged from 4.2 to 8.5 inches with a mean of 7.1 inches. Bluegills from both gears were age-3 to age-6 with four year classes present. Black Crappie were abundant in gill nets in 2024. A total of 285 were caught for a catch rate of 35.6/net. High Black Crappie catch rates have occurred frequently with a mean catch rate of 79.7/net since 1993. Black Crappie ranged from 4.8 to 10.0 inches with a mean of 8.3 inches. Black Crappie were aged using scales and otoliths. Black Crappie ranged from age-1 to age-6 with six year classes present. A total of 21 Largemouth Bass were sampled with boat electrofishing for a catch rate of 22.7/hour, which was well below the historical average of 87.0/hour. The low catch rate was likely due to clear water and abundant filamentous algae at the time of electrofishing. Largemouth Bass ranged from 5.7 to 19.0 inches and averaged 10.8 inches. An…
Minnesota DNR survey narrative, .
All Minnesota stockings · every Minnesota lake with a page · state CSV · this lake on DNR LakeFinder
Stocking rows, depths, accesses and survey figures are Minnesota DNR LakeFinder data as of 2026-09-02; contours are the DNR bathymetric survey. Regulations, slot limits and special rules are on the DNR page linked above, not here.
Hear when the states we cover post stockings
One email a week in season: which waters in the states we cover were stocked, straight from the state agencies' own postings. No spam, no fishing-gear ads in the mail.
Free · double opt-in · unsubscribe anytime · we store only your email.